Page 52 of Sick Bargain

SPACE & FRIENDS

REMIEL

What the fuckis going on?

I watch Krypt’s back tattoo disappear up the stairs, blending into the dark hallway until he’s gone from sight. I admitted something to him that hurt to say, and this is how he’s going to treat me? He’s going to mask me, teach me to hunt, cross a name off my list, and then scare me into sick sex… and then leave when I admit I don’t want to hurt him?

Well, fuck him.

I grab the railing and take a step to follow him, but someone latches onto my wrist and pulls me back.

“Better give him a minute.” A jacket is thrown over my shoulders, and when I turn around, I see Killian. Wait. Not Killian. Riot is what his tattoo says, because we’re in Vile House. Krypt’s brother. Holy shit… he’s Vile, too?

I pull the jacket on, thankful that it covers my dick and the cum leaking down my legs. Jesus. What is happening to me? I’m naked in the middle of a dark house where people are dying in the basement and masked men are doing the killing, and all I can think about is getting Krypt back?

“No. I’m not giving him a fucking minute. He’s an asshole who doesn’t?—”

“Know how to feel feelings?” Riot supplies with a charming smile. “Exactly.” He bends down to hand me my pants, and I tug them on just because I feel so stupid. “He was testing you. With the knife. He wanted you to admit you cared about him.”

“Well, I did, didn’t I?”

Riot nods. “Yeah. Thing about Krypt is, he wants something, but he never expects to get it, and once he does, he has no fucking idea how to handle it. You just rocked his very foundation, Remi. My brother doesn’t know the difference between hungry and horny, so you think he’s going to understand the difference between captivity and you willingly being here? Up until now, he was safe using your bargain as an excuse. He doesn’t mind being your jailer because you asked to be a prisoner. You just told him you’re more like his guest, and that’s gonna take him a minute.”

“Why?” I ask, looking up the stairs, barely holding myself back from rushing up there. “Why doesn’t he know the difference? What’s… does he have a diagnosis?”

“He’s got about thirty,” Riot says. “And half of them cross out the other half. No one understands Krypt, not even himself, so it scares him that you want to try.”

I never said that. Maybe I implied it. When I told him his monsters are alluring and his sickness makes me sicker, I meant that I wanted to understand him because I want to learn to understand myself.

“I should go up there. Check on him.”

Riot laughs. “Trust me, he’ll be down in a minute.” That gives me hope, but he shakes his head. “Not for you. Not yet. When Krypt gets overwhelmed, he turns to violence. There are currently twenty people dying in the basement, and the others are holding off to give him the chance to kill off his crazy.”

“By killing the Matter Cult?”

“Yeah. So, if you don’t want to see it, you should go.”

Do I want to see it? Do they deserve to die or should they be let free to make their own choices? I know the right answer, but I’m a changed man, so I ignore it.

“Go where? He never lets me leave. I don’t even have a house anymore.”

“I’ll take him,” Menace says, coming up from the basement. His blue mask is on the top of his head, and now that I see his face, it makes sense why he wanted a night with Cain. He shares an understanding look with Riot. How do they know so much? Were they standing there in the dark, listening and watching us on the stairs?

“Where?”

“Cain’s. Come on, Rem. He’ll be fine. You deserve a night with your friend.”

It’s almost midnight, but Cain is a night owl, and maybe I need to get out of Vile House for a bit. It’s tainting me.

I’m letting it. Willingly.

After a warningfrom Menace not to reveal his identity to Cain, he drops me off at the front door of my best friend’s house.

“Place isn’t gonna burn down now that you’re here or anything, right?” Cain chirps, handing me a beer.

Honestly, I don’t even know. Maybe, but I don’t say that. Krypt is probably deep in his murder haze right about now, but I don’t know what he’ll be like once he emerges from it. Will he be pissed I’m at Cain’s, or will Riot and Menace keep him contained?

“Do I wanna know what all this is?” Cain asks, motioning to me. “Are you hurt?”

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